Apology... here and there

Call it a 'day of apology'.

I came to notice about it yesterday after former Selangor mentri besar Dr Khir Toyo was sent to jail for corruption.

There was also Tourism Minister Nazri Aziz who apologised for saying Deputy Foreign Minister Reezal Marican did not follow protocols when summoning Ambassador of China Huang Huikang to Wisma Putra for what he said in Petaling Street.

And today, former Melaka chief minister Rahim Thamby Chik again apologised to the Selangor palace for accusing the Crown Prince had converted to Catholic.

1. Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz says he had no intention of meddling in the affairs of Wisma Putra over remarks made by the Chinese ambassador in Petaling Street.

He admitted that he made a mistake in assuming that Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican had decided on his own to have Wisma Putra call the ambassador to explain his remarks.

“I did not know that the Foreign Minister had instructed his deputy,” Nazri told The Star Online from Turkey yesterday.
“The normal practice in Cabinet when one minister is not in the country is that only another minister can act on his behalf, not the deputy minister.”

He said this was the reason he thought the Foreign Minister did not make the decision to call ambassador Dr Huang Huikang because Datuk Seri Anifah Aman was in New York at that time for the United Nations General Assembly.

2.  Former Malacca chief minister Tan Sri Rahim Thamby Chik has made his third public apology in four days over an outrageous claim that the Selangor Crown Prince had converted to the Catholic faith.

The latest apology from Rahim, now retired from politics, was posted on his Facebook page at about 6pm yesterday.

It was a Bahasa Malaysia version of his earlier apology, which had been uploaded on Facebook in English on Monday.

“With regards to my posts on Twitter and Facebook regarding DYTM Raja Muda Selangor converting to Catholism, I admit that it came from an unsubstantiated website. I sincerely apologise for any inconvenience and distress it may have caused DYMM Sultan of Selangor, DYTM Raja Muda Selangor and the Selangor Palace,” he wrote.

The conversion story linking Tengku Amir Shah to a Hispanic beauty was one of those ludicrous and far-fetched type of claims common on the Internet and was dismissed by the Selangor Palace when it first surfaced in July last year.

A Malay daily had rubbished the report then in a front-page story.

But Rahim’s embarrassing fiasco caused a stir due to his famous name. He had even claimed that a meeting with the Pope was in the works.

It is not confirmed yet whether the Selangor Palace will accept Rahim’s string of apologies.

3.  As he prepared to begin his jail sentence yesterday, former Selangor Menteri Besar Mohd Khir Toyo found time to post an article in his blog, in which he apologised to family, friends and supporters for causing them embarrassment with his conviction for corruption.

He also apologised to several other parties, including Selangor’s Hindu and squatter communities for actions he took while in office that might have hurt them. However, he offered justifications for those actions.

“I’d like to apologise if the Hindu community is angry over the demolition of the temple in Rimba Jaya,” Khir wrote.
“The case had been in court since 1998. The temple was built illegally on private land. The state government negotiated with the temple administrators and they accepted RM40,000 and a new site as compensation.
“The decision to demolish the temple was a court decision. It was neither my personal decision nor a decision of the state government. The court ruled for the demolition of the temple and the squatter dwellings there. The court rejected the appeals of 11 persons who refused to move out.”

He explained that he, the state government and the Shah Alam City Council merely implemented a court order. “I accepted it as my responsibility,” he said.

NOTE:Who else should apologise?